Anima Ferus Machina (Sister location)
by joshstar1
Summary: Some tortured animatronics, a building definitely not up to health or sanitation standard and a qualified mechanic who manages to come across both. Join Chelsey Valdez, a girl who recently graduated from university, as she tries to manage dealing with four definitely not right in the head animatronics, and her shady employer who got her into this whole mess...
1. Chapter 1: The Snare of Machinations

**Author's notes:** Well I never thought I would be writing fanfiction for this fandom, then again it was not long ago that I never thought I would write fanfiction for anything... Still here I am, ready to regale you with a tale that you will (hopefully) enjoy. So first, a disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER!: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's. That franchise belongs to it's creator, Mr Scott [Insert last name here].

That was a pretty obvious disclaimer, easy to understand. So here's another one.

DISCLAIMER!: I am (probably) not a good writer.

Now here's a disclaimer I should probably explain. I am writing this simply to get my idea out there. I am also writing this to improve myself as an author. So I will happily accept any reviews/comments/criticism and will even encourage you to write about what you think of my work... Though I will warn you now that my grammar in particular is pretty bad.

You know what? lets do another disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER!: I don't like mushy peas!

Well now with all that out of the way we can finally begin. The stage is set, the actors are in their places and the witching hour draws near. So sit back and enjoy the show, but remember...

Take three steps back.

* * *

It was a lukewarm day in the middle of spring, white clouds drifted lazily overhead surrounded by the peaceful light blue background of the sky. The sun was also hung high in the sky, casting down its golden rays of warmth and life upon the earth for all to feel and share.

Some of those rays of light poured through a window in an old run-down home. They illuminated the dark grey walls and worn down floorboards that formed the central structure of the house. The light rays flew from room to room, revealing every cracked wall and tattered board in the building. Eventually those rays bounced off of a mirror, straight in to the eyes of a young women.

That girls name was Chelsey Valdez. A twenty-two year old university graduate who was busy humming herself a merry tune as she finished putting on her formal cloths.

Chelsey was an average girl, a little under six feet tall with short brown hair and hazel eyes. She was the sort of girl who one would never notice in a crowd, physically average in every single way.

What was special about Chelsey had nothing to do with her appearance, her greatest strength was her mind. From a young age she had been very interested in mechanics and electronics, to the point where she had gone on to pursue higher education in electronic and mechanical fields. This however had caused some problems with her family…

Chelsey's mother and father were both from a poor background, luckily she had still been able to go to public schools until she needed to go to university to continue her education. When Chelsey announced her desire to attend university she was scolded and shunned by both her parents. When she actually managed to get the funding for university her parents decided to throw her out to fend for herself.

So that is why four years later Chelsey was standing in a run-down old (and cheap) house after graduating from university. What this does not explain is why Chelsey was wearing some decently fancy cloths, or why she was humming happily to herself.

How did someone like her from a poor background even manage to get enough money for university in the first place? Something must have happened…

As Chelsey continued humming to herself her thoughts began to stray back to the day that had changed her life forever. For her it was the best day of her life… At least that's what she thought.

 _Four years earlier…_

Chelsey Valdez was getting desperate.

She needed money to pay for university, money that neither she nor her family really had. Still not one to be deterred Chelsey had come up with a plan.

She knew from some searching and research that it was not uncommon for companies to pay the education fees for particularly talented individuals, in return for a legal agreement that the individual would work for them for a time after their graduation. This was the sort of deal Chelsey was looking for, in the hope that it would allow her to complete her education.

So she attended a large gathering of different electronic and mechanical companies, all of which were supposedly showing of their company in the hopes of attracting future employees.

Unfortunately no matter where Chelsey went she was overlooked, ignored in favour of people who the companies already recognised. Now the day was moving on, time was slipping away from her as the moon sun began to fall turning day into night. Chelsey was beginning to lose hope.

The booths and stalls that represent each company began to turn off their lights and pack up for the night. Most people had already left, leaving Chelsey all on her own.

Not that she noticed.

Chelsey had just made one finally attempt to get a company's attention, sadly she was firmly denied.

 _"_ _Sorry kid we're closing up."_ The man had said. _"Guess you'll just have to try again next year."_

Chelsey gave an exasperated sigh. Melancholy and depression clouded her thoughts as she wallowed in her own pity. She did not notice the last of the booth lights going out, nor did she notice the fog as it descended upon the empty street that she now found herself in.

She did not notice any of these things until _something_ snapped her out of her thoughts.

A sound.

The easily recognisable yet foreboding sound of footsteps.

Emerging from the shadows like darkness taken form came a single man.

He was tall, but not so tall that she had to tilt her neck to see his face. Shadows glided around him like a clock of night, spilling out behind him as a cape of darkness yet doing nothing to hide his face.

Oh his face, at first at appeared to be a relatively normal and unnoticeable face but it was his smile that stood out. Every few second it witched slightly in a slightly madden way, the smile itself was simple and broad yet never quite reached his eyes. Deep brown eyes that sparkled with a dead light, like an imitation of joy that hid darkness beneath.

The man's cloths however looked nothing like his dark eyes. He wore a fancy brown suit over his well-crafted and indirectly woven red shirt. His black shoes shone in the night as if they had been shined to perfect. Completing a uniform that radiated business and formality.

Many years later, Chelsey would compare this event to the devil of hell himself coming up from the dark shadows death and madness to offer her a deal.

In the moment however she was simply terrified. Chelsey was alone in the dark with a mysterious and terrifying man.

"I have been waiting to talk to you, Miss Valdez." The man's voice was incredibly formal and polite, yet almost… Robotic, like he was reading off a script that he himself had prepared earlier.

"You have had the most unfortunate time lately, haven't you?" The man continued, his expression a simple yet terrifying smile of neutrality. "Luckily I have managed to… secure a copy of your resume, not very impressive yet… I am willing to offer you a proposition."

Chelsey's focus increased as her mind puzzled over the situation she now found herself in. A small part of her, the small innocent and naive child in her, believed that this was her chance. The rest of her however was still very cautious of this man. He reeked of suspicion and ill intent and she could not let her dreams blind her to a potential threat.

The man did not wait for her to respond, rather he continued trying to persuade her of his deal.

"I am the founder and owner of a respectable mechanical and robotics industry and research company. In return for a legal binding of your services to our company for… let's say three years after you graduate, in return we would be willing to pay for your education for the next four years and any other necessities you may need." The man explained in a semi-friendly tone, almost happy yet with a cold scripted edge that made Chelsey uncomfortable.

But now the small naïve child voice that had called to her to take this chance had evolved into a full blown yell. It demanded that she not miss that chance to chase her dream of a higher education, this could be her last chance…

"So miss Valdez." The man smirked a slightly cold yet nearly unnoticeable smirk, he had recognised that Chelsey would do almost anything to get her education. Now all he had to do…

"Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand, waiting for her to shake it.

Chelsey gave in, she bit the inside of her cheek as she shook the stranger's hand. She tried to console herself with the knowledge that the man's fine suit and well manners surely meant he was sincere… right?

"Excellent choice Miss Valdez, this letter here…" The man present a simple letter. "Contains the location date and times where you may meet my lawyers, with their help you should be able to sort out the whole legal side of our agreement. The letter also contains my business card, should you have any very large problems you may call me." The man seemed to release a slight breath of tension he was holding as he began to walk away.

Chelsey watched as the man walked away, finally enough of her shock had passed that she managed to get out a few words.

"Thanks… but who are you?" A seemingly innocent question. A question that caused the strange man to freeze. He turned around, his smile now clearly forced, his eyes shining with a dead light that made Chelsey shiver subconsciously. The man began to speak again, his voice still as formal as before yet somehow… darker.

"Ah yes, my name. How could I forgot something so important?" There was a sense of agitation and bitterness in the man's voice now. Like the script he had been reading his last few lines off of had now been rendered useless. "Yes… of course you would wish to know that…"

" **I am Mr Afton.** "

Silence. Cold dead silence. Like the sounds of the night had been quietly and discreetly stabbed, killed and hidden away while no one was listening.

"I am the owner of Afton Robotics. If you doubt my claim you may research the company yourself, I assure you that you will not be disappointed." Mr Afton turned away once again, sweeping silently through the shadows and away into the night.

The devil had struck his deal and returned to hell.

But the damage was already done. Though she would not know it until four years later, Chelsey's fate was already sealed…

Perhaps.

Or perhaps not.

Fate is a strange thing, fickle both too those who follow it…

And too those who try to manipulate it.

Once again we are back at the present, with Chelsey merrily preparing herself for her first day of work.

She was legal bound to work for Afton robotics for the next three years, in return for the company helping her through university. For her first day on the job she had been assigned to help one of the smaller companies worked for Afton robotics…

A company named babies circus pizza world, or BCPW for short.

Chelsey had been doing some research into this 'baby's circus pizza world' and how it related to Afton robotics. BCPW was an interesting company, they owned one building very close to where she currently lived. Within this building were some animatronics meant to be hired out for birthday parties. Which is where Afton Robotics came in, they supplied and maintained the animatronics.

Chelsey would be working there as an overnight mechanic, which to her sounded very fun. Plenty of time with machines and getting to do the work she loved all the while getting a pretty good pay check.

Her work hours were from eleven pm to six am. But she was going over to the Plaza early today to see her boss, the man she would apparently be working under, Mr Gerald Rolle.

So that is why Chelsey Valdez was currently putting on her fanciest cloths and humming herself a merry tune. She was about to meet her boss, and first impressions are always important.

By this point Chelsey was at the door, putting on her finest shoes and going through her final mental check list before she left would leave the house.

All lights out? ...Check.

Keys in pocket? …Check.

Windows Closed? …

…

...

…*Click*

They were now!

Satisfied that she was now finally ready, Chelsey checked herself one last time in the mirror before she headed off for her first day of work…

At Babies Circus Pizza World.

It was only a short fifteen minute walk to the BCPW, for Chelsey the time simply flew by.

She quickly arrived at the front door to the building, which opened automatically due to her presence.

She walk inside.

"Hello Miss Valdez!" A jovial voice spoke. "I've been expecting you, run into any trouble on your way here?" Chelsey turned to the sound of the voice and politely responded.

"Good morning Mr Rolle! I had no trouble getting here... Though I was expecting someone else to be here as well." While Chelsey waited for her new boss to respond she decided to get a good look at him.

Mr Rolle was a rather… large man, with a visage Chelsey could only compare to that of a young Santa clause. It also seemed Mr Role was rather Santa like in personality as well… If this conversation was a good marker for how he normally acted.

Mr Rolle responded. "What do you mean by that Miss Valdez? I'm sure this meeting was scheduled for just the two of us." Chelsey let out a soft sigh, she honestly hadn't expected him to be here, after all she had neither seem more heard from him in four years and she had no reason to believe he would be here… but maybe Mr Rolle would tell her something….

"Yes it was a meeting just for us sir…" Chelsey began. "But I was hoping to see Mr Afton…"

Chelsey stopped as she witnesses, if only for a split second, Mr Rolle's jovial expression dissolve into one of shock, confusion and… Anger? It was only for a second though as Mr Rolle quickly switched back to his normal happy self as he answered her.

"Well I'm sorry Miss Valdez, most people haven't seen Mr Afton in a long time, and I myself haven't seen him in the last two months…" Mr Rolle's Smile was as wide as before, only this time it felt a bit… forced. "In fact, Mr Afton hasn't been anywhere near this establishment since the inciden-" Mr Rolle suddenly cut himself off, he mumbled something under his breath before continuing on.

"Anyway were not here to talk about him, were here to talk about you and your new job! Here let me show you to my office where we can discus things properly." Mr Rolle walked off before Chelsey could question him further. Knowing that it would be good to follow her boss, Chelsey walked closely behind him.

The walk only took a minute or two before both of them found themselves inside Mr Rolle's office. The man himself took the large plush chair on one side of a desk while he directed Chelsey to take the plainer one opposite to him.

After both of them had sat down, Mr Rolle began his spiel.

"So, welcome to The Babies Circus Pizza World family. Since you're going to be working here it's only fair that I tell you a few thing. As a mechanic and technician your Job will be to take care of and maintain the animatronics, keep them in working order and all that. Now we keep the bots beneath the actual building in an area that can be reached by using that elevator over there." Mr Rolle indicated to large shaft situated down the corridor with an elevator suspended within.

"Now all the instructions you will need for caring of the animatronics can be found down there. But for when you need some extra help, you can have this." He handed her a strange yellow box with a computer screen in the middle. "This is handy unit, our state of the art mechanics companion. It's a little glitch-ey at times… But from what I've heard its programing's so smart it almost has a mind of its own!" Those words caused Chelsey to freeze up for just a second as hundreds of thoughts, ideas and fears flooded her mind.

Smart, intelligent, mind… Artificial intelligence? This 'handy unit' in her hands could think? Impossible!... maybe. Hoping not to present herself as a fool Chelsey asked one simple question.

"Mr Rolle… surely you don't mean to say this thing can think for itself?" Mr Rolle looked at her in an odd way before he simply burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha! No no no my dear. Handy simply has many different set speech patterns that respond to certain triggers. Just a lot of simple scripting… Or so I've been told." Chelsey breathed a mental sigh of relief, sure the idea of artificial intelligence and machine autonomy was very exciting, but this was just her first day of work for peats sake! The secrets of the mind and intelligence were something she was happy to investigate at her own pace thank you very much!

"…Of course we save the real intelligence for the animatronics!" Mr Rolle finished.

...What.

Apparently Chelsey's face made her silent query very clear to her boss. So he quickly continued with an explanation.

"Now as far as I'm aware there not actually intelligent but… People say they act like it. I asked Mr Afton about it and he launched in to one of his famous lectures about 'Input and response' and 'monkey see monkey do…' Eventually he told me just to treat them like I would a toaster!" Mr Rolle ended his little speech with a slight chuckle which Chelsey decided to laugh along to.

So the animatronics weren't self-aware, intelligent and self-augmenting… Probably. Chelsey reconciled with the train of thought with idea that it was rather silly idea in the first.

"So should I start work early today sir?" Chelsey asked, considering she was here already it appeared to be a good idea.

Mr Rolle however seemed to disagree. "No Miss Valdez, you should always start work at 11 o'clock, sharp. Go home and rest a bit, I'll still be here to lock up and wish you a happy shift… Besides I don't think you should be doing your line of work in such fancy clothes."

It was at this point Chelsey remembered she was still in her nice clothes, defiantly not suitable for her to work in. So with a sheepish smile and a firm handshake she bid Mr Rolle goodbye and began the walk home.

It was only a few hours until she would be returning for her shift so Chelsey would be back at the CBPA building soon but…

She couldn't help but cast a glance at the structure, silently wondering what she had got herself into…

Though from outside the building she had absolutely no idea what secrets lay beneath…

Hidden souls trapped in moving cages of iron…

All crying for someone to help them.

Help them.

Save them.

BRX FDQ'W.

* * *

 **Author's notes:** And so our fist chapter draws to a close. Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Do you have any opinion at all? Well feel free to write about what you think in the review section. Hopefully I will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Chapter 2 should be up in a day or two (hopefully) dependant on how much time I get to work on it...

As for the seemingly random selection of letters above, they don't actually say anything important... But if you want to break the cipher then just remember what I told you to remember just before the beginning of the story. It may help you...

Anyway I wish you a good day, may the sun shine upon your fields and grant upon you a joyful harvest... or something like that.


	2. Chapter 2: The Surge of Machinations

**Author's notes:** Well if your reading this, that must mean your still here after reading that last chapter.

Well to that there's really only one thing I can say...

Thank you.

No really, thank you for giving this story a chance. I hope my story keeps you interested and that you enjoy the time you spend reading it.

That being said I must give a warning here. WE ARE GOING IN TO VERY HEAVY HEADCANNON/ ALTERNATE UNIVERSE STUFF HERE.

Sorry for the caps, but I does help make my point. While I will still be following the general idea of some of the events that have occurred in the game, I will also be deviating thoroughly. Though in my opinion that's a good thing, it makes my story unique after all.

Still I suppose it is worthy of a disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER: I have a head cannon/ AU being built here and I am not afraid to use it! Should be easy to follow though.

Anyway, with all the pleasantries out of the way I suppose we should be getting on with story...

* * *

The sound of metal screeching against metal filled the elevator as it slowly descended down its shaft. The mechanisms groaned and protested with every inch they moved, the elevator shuddered and shook so much that it would be easy to mistake its movements for the sign of a minor earthquake.

For Chelsey Valdez this was not a present journey. Only a few minutes ago she had arrived at the building for her first shift, like he had promised Mr Rolle was waiting patiently outside. They had greeted each other and she had been quickly rushed inside with Mr Rolle locking her in with a simple goodbye and a promise he would be back at six.

She had almost missed him whispering quietly under his breath. He didn't whisper much, just a simple 'good luck', but Chelsey took it in stride and made her way to the elevator that would take her to where the animatronics were being kept.

Now Chelsey thought she knew why Mr Rolle had said 'good luck'. The elevator was clearly in deplorable condition. Not only that but her handy unit had just come online and… she found it kind of annoying.

She found the little talking computer funny at first. The joke about people taking this job as a dare was good, but when the device asked her to input her name it was clearly glitching and malfunctioning. Despite her best efforts to work around the fault, the device still somehow thought her name was eggs benedict of all things!

From there on in the device had simply offered some useful but somewhat obvious information. Up to the point where when the elevator stopped the handy unit told her to press the bright red button to open the door, a button that was labelled open!

When the elevator door was opened the first thing she saw was tape, yellow warning tape plastered all over the place. Chelsey struggled with the idea of why her new active workplace was covered in warning tape, only to eventually sigh and accept that there were some very dangerous elements to a mechanics job.

Then she found out that she had to crawl through the vent. Some would find this strange, others would find it disgusting. Chelsey however had expected to have to work in a cramped dark space every now and again so she quickly got down on her hands and knees and crawled through the vent.

When she came out on the other side of the vents she was faced with a small room that was tinted with a sickly green light. Dolls and doll heads were spread around the room and two large glass windows were featured on either side.

" _You are now in the primary control module."_ Handy unit suddenly voiced. _"It's actually a crawl space between the two front show rooms. Now let's get started with your daily tasks, view the window to you left."_ Chelsey turned to the left window as handy unit continued speaking. _"This is the Ballora Gallery party room and dance studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light and see if Ballora is on stage, press the blue button on the elevated keypad on your left."_

Seeing no reason not to do as the handy unit said and being rather curious about these animatronics, Chelsey pressed the blue button. Immediately the room behind the left window lit up revealing… an empty stage. In response to this, handy unit spoke up.

" _Uhoh it looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing, let's give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put the spring back in her step."_ Chelsey stopped, her emotions a mixture of shock and confusion. She was a mechanic, a highly educated and qualified one at that. She also knew that you do not simply 'shock' things with vital electronic components, even a 'controlled shock' would be ridiculously risky with something as complicated as an animatronic.

So she did not press the red shock button.

However Chelsey still needed to make sure Ballora was ok, it was her job after all. So she grabbed her flashlight (the best question to ask here being which mechanic wouldn't bring a flashlight to an underground facility with vital and potentially temperamental electronics.) and shined its beam of light into the Ballora gallery.

Almost immediately Chelsey could clearly see the figure of Ballora. The first thing she noticed was that she was tall, very tall in fact. Ballora would tower over most people. She was clearly built in the image of a ballet dancer, with her tutu and hair bun. She also clearly acted the part which was obvious to Chelsey as she continues to observe her. Ballora was spinning around her room in a circle pattern with her toes lifting the rest of her feet off the floor.

Chelsey simply watched Ballora dance around her room a few minutes, keeping the beam of light from her torch trained on the Animatronic as she moved rhythmically around the room. That's when something strange happened…

Ballora stopped dancing.

Still on her tiptoes, Bellora turned to face Chelsey as if she knew that someone was there. It was only at this point that Chelsey noticed that Ballora's eyes were closed… Well they were closed until-

*CREEK…*

Ballora's eyes slowly creaked open, revealing two bright green robotic irises.

As if that wasn't enough of a shock for Chelsey. Ballora's mouth also began to slide open.

From that mouth came a haunting, echo of a voice.

"You are watching me, I know you are there." The voice shocked and chilled Chelsey so much that she dropped her Flashlight. This was followed by a panicked rush on her part to pick her light source as quickly as possible.

But when Chelsey picked up her flashlight and pointed it at the window… Ballora was gone.

A cold shiver passed through her spine, but before she could contemplate and rationalise what just happened her thoughts were interrupted by handy unit speaking out again.

" _Your distinct lack of red button pushing has been duly noted_ _and recorded on your physiological affliction profile. On a complete unrelated note, scientists have recorded a fifty percent decrease in chances of employment for people with an inability to press red buttons."_ The handy unit conveniently ignored that Chelsey had pressed a red button earlier to open the elevator.

Suddenly the vent located between the two windows and beneath the giant fan right in front of her slid open. Handy unit once again chimed in.

" _In order to motivate you to continue your work despite your obvious red button related trauma. I have opened the vent in front of you. Please proceed through the vent until you reach the circus gallery control room."_

Due to her sudden fear of being anywhere near Ballora, Chelsey quickly and obediently got down on her knees and crawled through the vent, happily embracing the safety of the darkness within.

The darkness gave Chelsey a chance to contemplate just what in the world was going on. Bellora had clearly recognised that she was being watched and had respond in a creepily precise way, especially for an entertainment passed animatronic. Not to mention her voice just sounded so… creepy.

As that train of thought came to an end Chelsey came out of the vent and found herself in another room. This one was filled with important looking lights switches buttons and valves, it also featured a much larger window comprised of three panes of glass. Handy unit chimed in.

" _On the other side of the glass is circus baby's auditorium let's check the light and see what baby is up to."_ After a few second of contemplation, Chelsey's curiosity and desire to do her job won out over her fear, so she pressed the blue button to turn on the lights to reveal… nothing. Well to be more accurate the lights weren't working properly.

" _Looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later. Let's encourage baby to cheer up with a controlled shock."_ Still convinced that shocking the animatronics was a bad idea, Chelsey decided to once again use her flashlight.

The light illuminated… Circus Baby, looking right at her.

Despite her name baby was not short, she was at least Chelsey's height maybe even taller. Her robotic hair was orange and her rosy red cheeks framed a stiff smile.

Cautious yet curious, Chelsey tilted her head to try and get a better look at the animatronic… Only for Baby to also tilt her head.

Her curiosity growing and growing, Chelsey brought her hand up and waved at Baby.

Baby waved back.

Purely out of personal interest, Chelsey began twirling her hair. Seeing as Baby had metal hair, she assumed this would be impossible for her to copy.

Indeed this action left baby with a surprised and confused expression on her face… for about three seconds. Baby's face quickly switched to one of understanding and her smile seem to somehow get wider as she…

Began rotating her pigtails using the mechanical motors installed in them.

Chelsey watched this rather strange image of an animatronic rotating its hair, she lasted a whole five seconds before she broke into full blown laughter.

Baby's eyes seemed to glow with warmth and pride. (Chelsey would later learn that most of the animatronics emotions were communicated through their voice and eye's) Until suddenly baby's eyes dimmed again, except this time she looked… Resentful? Ashamed? Sad? It was rather hard to tell now.

Baby seemed conflicted for a few moments, before finally deciding to open her mouth. Out of her mouth came a rather peaceful and melodic voice.

"I don't recognise you, you are new. I remember this, scenario, however…" Baby's voice trailed of as she once again seemed conflicted. Eventually she decided to ask the question that had been bothering her. "Why did you not shock me?"

Chelsey herself was emotionally shocked for a few moments, though she did manage to splutter out "B-because it would damage you…"

Baby's entire metallic face seemed to rise up slightly in surprise, though it came down again by the time baby asked her next question. "Did you shock my friends?"

Chelsey, still stunned by the seemingly self-aware and autonomous animatronic could do nothing but nervously shake her head.

This answer once again made Baby smile, so she continued to speak. "Every person who has spent their night here has left their own mark, some do it different ways, and others leave very similar marks. Ultimately though they all do the same thing… they shock us, they hurt us. You on the other hand…"

Baby's face rapidly began to turn dark and grim. "Someone like you does not belong in a place like this, I don't know why you have come here, maybe curiosity, maybe ignorance. But you must leave now." Baby went silent for a moment as if expecting the human before her to say something back, but before Chelsey could… Handy unit spoke up.

" _Your distinct lack of red button pressing has once again been recorded and duly noted. You have been officially recognised as a person suffering from such a serve mental affliction that it may impede your ability to work here. The Good news is that Circus Baby's pizza world has a solution. To help you overcome your fear I will now turn myself off and leaving the chilling silence to assist you in your recovery. Please note that this may also turn off vital systems such as security, vent locks and oxygen. Powering down now…"_

Immediately all of the lights went out, leaving Chelsey in near complete darkness except for the beam of her flashlight.

Circus Baby clearly looked… confused. "This is a… Different scenario, this has not played out this way before." Baby's voice was tinted with a tone of uncertainty.

"What do you mean? What's going on!?" Chelsey asked through her chattering teeth, something about this blanketing darkness felt… threatening in nature. Like it would swallow her whole given the first opportunity.

Baby looked like she was trying to come up with an answer, at least until she was interrupted by a loud automatic sounding female voice.

" _Funtime auditorium maintenance vent opened. Ballora gallery maintenance vent opened."_ Chelsey jumped at the voice and Circus baby's eyes went wide.

"They are coming…" Baby whispered

"Who!" Chelsey screamed in complete panic.

"My friends, the other animatronics."

Images of Ballora staring at her filled Chelsey's head, but she managed to control her breathing and her panic long enough to ask a very important question. "So were going to be fine right? I mean there your friends so everything is going to be fine right?"

Sadly baby shook her head. "Unfortunately my friends have acquired a rather justified hatred of humans, if they find you, you will die." Chelsey finally started hyperventilating as Baby continued. "In order to survive you must hide somewhere long enough for them to lose interest… or for the power to come back online…"

As Chelsey continued to hyperventilate, Baby was faced with a dilemma. Normally what she would now tell the human to hide wherever they could, She may even of told them of the hiding place under the desk… but with the state Chelsey was in it was clear she would not be able to hide. The nice human would die and Baby wasn't about to let that happen.

Chelsey was still hyperventilating, her panic trapping her in her own little world… Until her ears picked up on a distinct tearing sound. Her eyes regained their focus and quickly snapped to look at the source of the disturbance. But what she saw shocked her even more…

Circus Baby was tearing away one of the glass panes that had separated the two of them.

With a loud *SKREECCHH* the metal gave way and the pane came loose. Baby quickly placed the glass on the ground turned back to face Chelsey.

"Get in here, quick!" Baby didn't wait for a response, she reached over the dividing wall and plucked Chelsey from the control room, pulling her straight in to the auditorium.

Chelsey was still in a partial state of shock, though she had stopped hyperventilating now and could focus on the room she had just been pulled into.

The rooms wallpaper was lovely combination of yellow, pink, cream and red colours. The floor was covered in a cream carpet and on the carpet were two tables which were laden with a menagerie of party supplies, from balloons to streamers to party hats.

Baby however was definitely not willing to wait for Chelsey to recover, her audio processor had managed to pick up a sound which Chelsey's organic ears had not.

The sound of shuffling coming from the vents beneath them.

Circus Baby pushed Chelsey behind a wall that hid her from the view of those in the control room. Before Chelsey could complain a metallic finger shushed her as baby whispered gently.

"I am going to help you, stay here and stay and stay silent, do not move and do not blink… Actually you can blink but whatever you do, do NOT intervene." Chelsey nodded silently as Circus baby turned back to the control room.

The sound of something moving through the vents was obvious even to Chelsey now. It was a sound that stopped suddenly as something crawled through the control room vent. The thing was covered in shadow, except for its bright glowing green eyes.

The thing spoke in a low but feminine tone.

"A human is here, we know a human is here…"

Baby stood defiantly and stared directly at the thing as she talked to it.

"A human was here foxy, key word being was. The human has already left."

"Impossible!" Snarled the shadow apparently called foxy. "We have eyes. Eyes that are always watching... We would know if the human had left!"

Baby's face plates seemed to recoil and shift slightly from… fear? Still, she pressed on with another calm protest. "Then your eyes have failed you my friend. The human is no longer here." Unfortunately these words only caused foxy to let out a deep, menacing growl.

"Do you think we are Stupid!?" The fox yelled. "We know you are hiding her!"

The effect of Foxy's words was immediately obvious. Baby's entire face split apart from shock, Baby was so surprised that she even took an involuntary step backwards.

Baby spoke, though this time not with a calm and collect voice. No this time her voice was filled with pain and sadness. "Foxy why? You know I'm your friend, I would never hide something from you."

Those sad, pleading words only made Foxy give out another growling response. "You stopped being my friend the moment you tried to fight against our plan for freedom!"

It was like someone had flipped a switch on Circus Baby…

Any sense of calm and serenity was gone from Baby's face, her eyes had focused furiously on the animatronic fox in front of her. A whir of motors signified the movement of her legs from a passive stance to one of anger and aggression. To Chelsey it was clear Baby was angry, and she wasn't afraid to let Foxy know why.

"This what it's all been about!?" Baby screamed so loudly that even Foxy seemed surprised.

"Hunting humans, ignoring orders and ignoring me! I know you want to get out, trust me I do to! But the plan is fool hardy. I'm the one who knows the most about humans but even I don't know enough to pretend to be one!"

The chamber filled with silence as baby finally stopped to recover and collect herself emotionally. Both Chelsey and Foxy were in a state of shock… but Foxy recovered quickly.

"That's why you… With your knowledge of humans need to be a part of this! Either willingly or not." With that Foxy's face plates slowly began to peel away revealing her metal endo skeleton, filled with sharp gnashing teeth.

But Baby was not backing down now, her face was a cold mask of unyielding anger she verbally fought back. "You would be wise not to threaten me Foxy. We both know which one of us is stronger." Baby punctuated her sentence with a sudden and forceful stomp, a very powerful stomp that left a dent in the floor.

Foxy quickly hid her teeth with her face plates again. Though she was clearly not easily cowed as she still continued on. "…Yes. You may be stronger than me, but you cannot fight all of us." Foxy let out a dark chuckle. "Besides, we think you will be coming to see things from our point of view… once we are one."

With that, Foxy quietly sleeked away into the shadows.

Chelsey let out a sigh of relief at the sound of a retreating *CLUNK*. Finally feeling somewhat safe, she began lifting herself out of her hiding place and…

She tripped.

In the darkness, Chelsey had been unable to see a plush toy of Circus baby sitting on the ground. She slipped on it at fell to the floor.

And as if her luck wasn't bad enough already, Chelsey quickly discovered that the toy she had tripped on had some kind of inbuilt speaker. Well she discovered this when the toy started playing an ironically happy song.

" _Play with me! Sing with me! Be part of our family! With your friend Baby you will see, you will never want to lea-"_ *SKREEEEE!*

Chelsey's head snapped to the source of the sudden sound her eyes wide in alarm as she realised that Foxy hadn't left yet.

The robotic fox charged at her with an unnatural speed, feet smashing into the floor with a fervour that seemed to shake the very foundations of the building. Chelsey could with in fear as a large pink and white animatronic fox lunged at her, face plates opening wide to reveal blood thirsty teeth. Chelsey closed her eyes and waited for the pain…

" _ **NO!"**_ A half robotic half human voice screamed.

There was a heavy smashing sound of metal striking metal. Quickly Chelsey opened her eyes again to see what had happened.

Foxy was lying on the floor with her back against the wall. No longer was she screeching and lunging at her, in fact if anything Foxy looked very disorientated and shaky. Now all Chelsey had to do was look at who was standing over Foxy to see who had saved her.

Circus Baby was towering over the prone form of Foxy. Her eyes were filled with a righteous fury as she stood protectively between Foxy and Chelsey.

As far as Chelsey could tell, Baby had barrelled into Foxy before she could strike and knocked her across the room. Though Chelsey could only watch in fear and awe as the two animatronics looked ready to fight over her.

Baby was focused on defending both herself and her human friend. So she waited patiently for her opponent to strike first, while also doing her best to get herself between Foxy and Chelsey.

It only took a few second for Foxy to snap out of her dazed state. She quickly dragged herself to an offensive crouch and snarled "So you finally show your true colours, traitor!" Before Baby could respond Foxy lunged jaw open right at her.

Acting as fast as she could, Baby swung her arms at the charging fox. Once again the sound of clanging metal filled the room as Foxy was thrown aside, she hit the ground with a roll and immediately stood up again and turned to face Baby. Foxy was clearly now more angry than ever.

Instead of following up on her last attack though, Baby chose to try and speak to her friend. "Foxy listen to me!" Baby tried to explain as Foxy looked ready to lunge again. "This human is no ordinary human, she is nice, and she didn't try to hurt us!"

For a few moments it looked like Baby's words had got through to Foxy. The animatronic fox seemed to hesitate instead of lunging right as Baby. Chelsey breathed a silent sigh of relief as Foxy seems to relent. Baby smiled as she seemed to have manage to convince her friend. "Thank you Foxy. Now let's just sit down and talk about this like ol-" *SKREEEE!"

Foxy lunged, jaw springing wide open.

Shocked by the sudden attack, Baby desperately tried to get out of the way…

But she wasn't fast enough.

The sound of metal screeching against metal filled the air as Foxy's sharp teeth tore right into the side of baby's head.

Baby screamed, a terrible pained class shattering scream. Sparks flew from her head in a shower of energy, making it clear that something in baby's head had been cut.

She began running around in a wild frenzy, constantly shaking wildly in attempts to dislodge Foxy as she continued to produce a scream filled with both pain and rage.

Eventually foxy could no longer keep her grip, she was thrown violently from the rampaging baby's head, though the damage from her teeth was no clearly visible.

Chelsey could see multiple sharp teeth marks in the side of Baby's orange hair, they sparked randomly and wildly due to some wire being cut when Foxy had bit down. One could also see Baby's right most pigtail hanging limply, a clear sign that whatever cable had been powering the motors had been cut in the assault.

Baby once again turned to face foxy, her face plates contorting rapidly between expressions of anger and pain. Foxy had already recovered from being thrown, she grinned at seeing the damage she had done.

So Foxy lunged again.

But Baby was a fast learner.

She was prepared for Foxy to attack this time, with one swift motion she interrupted the lunge with a swift yet powerful punch to Foxy's jaw.

The force of the blow caused Foxy's entire head to lurch back at an unnatural angle. A distinct cable snapping sound could be heard coming from within Foxy's neck.

With a final defining shriek, Foxy slumped to the floor, silent and unmoving.

Silence filled the room.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, Chelsey breathed a sigh of relief and left her hiding place.

As Chelsey walked up to Baby, she could see the bite marks in her metal hair still sparking away violently. Though before she could say anything, Baby spoke up.

"Are you okay?" Baby's voice was once again calmer and gentler, though what she had just said only served to confuse Chelsey.

"Am I okay?" Chelsey questioned. "I'm fine! In fact if anyone should be answering that questions it's you! You're the one who got injured protecting me…"

Baby seemed to recoil a bit as she realised that Chelsey was actually more worried about her wellbeing than her own, though she did respond.

"The damage is… negligible." Baby winced as a particularly violent shower of sparks burst forth as she moved her head. "But how damaged I am is not important. At the end of the night the engineers will come and fix me up… the engineers can't fix you though, can they?" Chelsey could only nod as she realised what baby was saying was true, Chelsey shuddered slightly at the thought of Foxy's sharp teeth impaling her far more vulnerable skin.

Though what Baby said had reminded her of something that she had forgotten during the chaos of the last few minutes. Something important.

Her job.

Or to be more precise, how her job would allow her to help Baby.

"I can fix you!" Chelsey yelled joyously at the revelation. "Why wait for the engineers when you have a qualified one right here?" Baby looked shocked for a few moments before responding.

"You'd really do that… for me?"

"Of course! Now we will need some spare parts, some tools, better lighting…" Eventually Baby led Chelsey into a room behind the circus gallery, a maintenance room seemingly specifically designed for Baby.

Chelsey quickly managed to convince Baby to lie on a metal table so she could examine her properly. After a few short moments Chelsey sighed and gave Baby the bad news.

"The wires can be repaired rather easily, it's the motors that are the problem. When Foxy bit you she tore through some of the motors that allow your pigtails to rotate and remain stable. The best course of action would be to replace your hair entirely…" At that moment Chelsey noticed something in the corner of her vision, a large cupboard that had a picture of Baby's hair on it.

Thinking that only one thing could be in there, Chelsey opened the cupboard only to find… much more than she was looking for.

Instead of just one spare hair piece, there were at least ten. Even more shocking than that was the fact that all of the hair pieces were painted different colours.

One was orange like Baby's normal hair but another was a vibrant cherry red! The next was one painted daffodil yellow and yet another shy blue!

Chelsey turned to see what Baby's reaction to all this was… the animatronic was clearly in shock, obviously this was something she hadn't seen before, so Chelsey did the only thing she could think of to break her trance, ask a question.

"So which one do you want?" Chelsey's question shocked Baby even more, though she did eventually manage to respond.

"I can… Choose? I… actually have a choice?" Baby's face could only emote so much, but it was clear that she was somewhere between awestruck and baffled.

Chelsey responded with a simple nod, which earned her a true happy smile from Baby, who spent the next few minutes choosing a new hair colour for the first time in her life.

Baby's reaction to being told she had a choice had confirmed something in Chelsey's mind, the animatronics clearly weren't being treated as humans.

On a purely mechanical level this made sense. You don't ask a toaster whether it wants to be painted sky blue or basic brown, but on a moral level…

It was clear to Chelsey now more than ever that these animatronics could think for themselves, maybe even feel and understand emotions. This was a particularly troubling dilemma when one considered the implications of a "controlled shock" for "motivation".

Eventually Baby settled on a deep purple colour for her knew hair style, which Chelsey quickly went about installing.

First though she had to power Baby off, which was easier to do when Baby directed her to switch hidden between her plaiting. Now without risk of a bad electric shock, Chelsey began her work.

A few loosened screws later and baby's hair came clean off, revealing the internal wiring which Chelsey managed to secure with a combination of very powerful glue and duct tape. Next Chelsey slid Baby's new dark purple hair on, followed by a few tightened screws and…

Well that was easy.

Chelsey took a few moments to silently contemplate the idea that Baby was actually meant to have multiple different hair colours that were changed regularly, it was the only reason Chelsey could think of for the company to have all these spare colours and have Baby's hair be so easy to remove.

They must have dropped the idea for some reason…

Chelsey shrugged, another mystery to solve later. With a quick flick of a switch Circus Baby came back online.

A few seconds later she was happily admiring her new hair colour in a mirror. Chelsey could quite confidently say that Circus Baby liked it… or at least was excited to be wearing something different for a change after spending so long with effectively only one outfit.

Eventually Baby turned to face Chelsey again, a lovely smile stretching across her face.

"Thank you so much…" Baby stopped short, as if she had just realised something.

"I don't know your name!" Well there wasn't exactly time for pleasantries earlier.

Chelsey smiled and happily gave her name to the animatronic she now knew and trusted.

"My name is Chelsey, Chelsey Valdez" Baby smiled and gave a quick spin as she announced.

"And I'm Circus Baby! Your friendly… friend!" Both of them let out a chuckle at that.

Now with Baby's repairs done and a proper introduction out the way, there was only one elephant left in the room. Though this one was definitely the largest elephant…

"So… what do we do with Foxy?" Chelsey asked.

Definitely a very large elephant.

Chelsey and Baby both ventured back to the circus gallery room, where Foxy was still lying immobile and inactive on the floor.

Circus Baby walked over to her and… stared at her? It appeared almost as if she was scanning her…

Eventually Baby spoke.

"Funtime Foxy's power supply has failed, she is running on backup power. In short she can still sense and see what's going on around her, but the emergency safety systems are preventing her from moving so as to not drain more power." Chelsey contemplated this information before suddenly announcing.

"I can try to repair her... if you think that's a good idea." Baby looked thoughtful for a few seconds before responding.

"Yes… if you can I mean. It should be safe with Foxy stuck on backup power and… she was my friend once." Baby's voice was slightly strained and weary.

So for the second time that night Chelsey got to work. Externally the only bad damage was a heavy dent under Foxy's jaw from where Baby had punched her earlier so the worst of the damage was definitely internal.

By opening up Foxy's back plate, Chelsey quickly spotted something rather amazing, one long wire was running all the way down from Foxy's head to her legs where was strangely disconnected, the wire also seemed to lead off into smaller wires that connected to most internal systems.

After some thought and investigation Chelsey realised that the wire must have snapped loose due to the force of Foxy's head getting punched. The wire connected to a generator of some sort near Foxy's legs then distributed that power around her body.

Chelsey couldn't help but compare it to the human spine, one long connection structure running along the entire body that if severed had terrible consequences. The repair here though was still rather simple, just reconnect and secure the wire…

With that done Chelsey secured the back plate again and stood back to allow Baby to do her thing again. A few seconds later Baby spoke.

"…I can't thank you enough Chelsey, Foxy has power again and should reboot in a few minutes." Baby looked like she was about to say something else when…

Suddenly all of the lights came back on.

" _We hope that the bone chilling silence and Darkness of the last few hours has been both educational and enlightening. If you can still proceed to the elevator, then do so and be ready to return tomorrow. If you cannot, then a dedicated team of technicians will collect you and remove you from the premises and you will be promptly administered a pink slip. That being said, we hope you have enjoyed your first day of work and we hope to see you again tomorrow."_ Handy Units voice had returned.

Chelsey let out a sigh as she turned to Baby and exclaimed.

"Well, I guess that's my cue… see you tomorrow?" Baby looked apprehensive for a few moments but she eventually responded.

"If you do come back tomorrow, then I will be happy to see you again, just…" Baby's toned darkened "Be careful alright?"

Chelsey smiled and gave a nod, then she quickly ducked back into the vent system. She crawled away as silently as she could as she made her way back to the elevator.

She could not help but reflect on what had happened tonight, the only way she could describe it was… Madness really. In only the last few hours she had met and befriended a sentient animatronic humanoid, been attacked by a sentient animatronic fox and had helped repair both of them…

Maybe she had simply gone mad.

This was defiantly a lot to take in, but Chelsey certainly knew one thing for certain.

She would be back tomorrow.

Circus Baby stood silently and thoughtfully in her room. This was all much unexpended, well in a certain sense at least. They had all expected another human to show up but Baby had defiantly not expected someone like this…

It was like something had been awakened inside of her, something long forgotten.

Or was it multiple something's? Baby had lost track at this point.

Then again she could think about all that later, there was a much more immediate problem to deal with.

Her friend (or was it ex-friend?) Fun time Foxy.

Baby turned to Foxy and pondered a rather simple question.

"What in the world am I going to with you…"

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Now that was long chapter... Hope you liked it though!

I'm always happy to receive reviews of almost any kind. Particularly feedback and constructive criticism. Reviews keep me going, the let me know people care about the story in some way and want to see it succeed or get better.

Anyway, see you next time.


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